Friday, November 18, 2016

GSM c2c - Appeal for donation to replace Pre-Spinning Unit at Gram Sewa Mandal (GSM) Wardha

Dear Friend,

As you may be aware, Gram Sewa Mandal (GSM) that was established by Vinoba Bhave in 1934, has been involved in khadi cloth production with local spinners, weavers, dyeing & printing at Gopuri, Wardha since many years. We are happy to inform that our work to put in place the entire process of making non-GM (Genetically Modified) cotton into cloth at local level in Vidharbha region of Maharashtra is catching momentum. One major bottleneck in this process is to have our pre-spinning unit replaced and we seek your support for same. 

Our Pre-spinning machines are of 1920, 1948, 1951 year old and were not in use for some years. When we restarted our pre-spinning unit, we realised that replacing these with better machines will increase its working efficiency making the entire process of cotton to cloth, proficient and localised. 

How replacing pre-spinning unit at GSM will help?

Following diagram shows the process of making cotton to cloth and it is seen that pre-spinning unit is very crucial in obtaining Sliver for the whole process in order to prepare yarn. 









    > Currently farmers are dependent on GM cotton seeds. Self reliance on seeds is most important to improve farming situation through use of local, Non-GM Desi cotton seeds. These machines produce good sliver out of short stapled desi cotton. So we feel it necessary to make cloth from such cotton to help get sustainability and end product ready at local level. 
      >  It is possible to get upto 40 count yarn from the cotton varieties of Vidharbha but since there is no pre-spinning unit, all local khadi producers are depended on Central Sliver Plants situated outside Maharashtra for sliver. This causes delay in obtaining quality sliver on time as well as maintain its purity, thus impacting to produce quality yarn & cloth too.
    > Vidharbha is a major cotton producing region in Maharashtra yet cotton farmers don’t fetch much. It is seen that cotton farmers have to succumb to market rate to sell cotton. If instead of selling cotton, farmers are able to sell cloth as end-product directly to consumers, they may fetch better. This is possible if local cotton is used to prepare Slivers locally. Once Sliver is sought locally, spinning & weaving can easily take place at village level too, generating livelihood for many. 
Hence, replacing pre-spinning will benefit; 1. farmers growing desi, non-GM cotton, 2. those engaged in producing yarn and cloth locally and 3. provide consumers, cloth that is ecologically, economically & socially sustainable too. 

We, therefore seek your help to buy all the pre-spinning machines such as Ginning, Blowroom, Carding, Draw Frame and Speed Frame. Families of around 270 farmers, 355 spinners & 240 weavers will benefit through these machineries throughout the year. Approx. Rupees Twenty Lakh is required for buying these machines. Any amount of contribution is most welcome! 

Cotton cloth is not just a piece of fashion, but a seed- sown, grown, spun, woven with passion. It impacts our environment and many livelihoods too.  Like food, we are cloth consumers & like ‘slow food’ (i.e. natural, local & organic), we need ‘slow cloth’ too.

We solicit your support, a little help from you will go a long way in making it possible to strengthen infrastructure locally, bring self-reliance at gram level and make available ecological & holistic ‘safe-cloth’ to many.

Thanking You,

Karuna Futane (+91 7152 244722, +91 9422633771)
President, Gram Sewa Mandal, Gopuri, Wardha - 442001 Maharashtra, India
Tanmay Joshi (+91 8087502186) 
Ojas S.V. (+91 9403579416) 
Tejal V. (+91 9833707598)

Do contact any one of us OR email at gramsewamandal@gmail.com with subject line as ‘Reg. Donation for Pre-Spinning Unit at GSM'.



Thursday, November 17, 2016

GSM - General Information & Video


Gram Sewa Mandal, Gopuri-Paunar 2016
Background and thought process of Gram Seva Mandal
6th May 1934, Vinoba Bhave and his path mates founded Gram Seva Mandal near Wardha city. Vinoba had a good vision of connecting struggles to constructive works in such a way that the principles for which we struggle become part of lifestyle. Gandhiji gave a call of ‘Let’s go towards village’, during the freedom struggle, to reach to the last person. As a result, many youngsters started working in the villages – with ‘Charkha’ as an effective weapon of peace.  Vinoba connected several such diligent youngsters along with their families to raise ‘Gram Sewa Mandal’, with the objective of establishing a model village which is self sufficient in aspects of food and clothing; at the same time it would produce small machinery for cottage industries to bring about ‘gram swavalamban’ (village self sustenance) in nearby villages. This work started in Naalwadi village. Soon, the work increased and more families got associated. With the help of Jamnalal Bajaj and with the monetary aid raised by Gandhiji, more land was bought near Wardha- Nagpur road. Some simple but durable, eco-friendly houses were built for individuals and artisans families under the supervision of Radhakrishna Bajaj.  Some small scale industries, goshala (byre), offices were built keeping in mind the objective of serving the village community. Gandhiji named this tiny village as ‘Gopuri’. The buildings standing here are best examples of vernacular architecture of its own kind. They are the historical heritage from our freedom struggle.
Even today the work on Agriculture, Cloth making and Oil extraction is carried keeping alive the basic notion and thoughts behind the place. Some changes are also happening considering the contemporary struggles and by connecting them to the constructive works. Various types of Charkhas and machinery needed for gramodyog (cottage industry) are assembled at ‘Saranjaam’ department. Parandham Publication is working as media to spread ideology of Khadi, Gram Swaraj (village self sustenance) and Vinoba’s thoughts and ideas.  Some individuals are operational in the nearby villages keeping Gopuri as their base. They are visiting nearby villages and understanding issues faced by village communities at the same time discussing with them and connecting the villages with thoughts of gramodyog. In today’s globalized, centralized world, such small self-sufficient villages are challenging the giant ascendancy through their peaceful work. 
Now, especially since the past one year, new fellows are dedicatedly working with GSM to advance its work. They are working day and night with determination and a voluntary attitude. Some experiments of community life, community kitchen and collective community economics are going on.
Cotton to cloth
India is the second largest cotton producer in the world. Clothing is a basic need of all human beings. Why then, are the producers – cotton growing farmers – committing suicide by the thousands, in spite of having so many ‘consumers’?  The main cause behind this is the centralized textile industry. A cotton growing farmer has an option of either selling cotton to middleman or 5-6 yarn mills. There is a difference of maximum Rs. 200/- per quintal. So, basically mill owners decide price of cotton and the farmer has no option but to accept it. Mill owners purchase materials from cheaper sources - be it from the country or from abroad. One mill generally processes cotton grown in over 300 villages. Cloth made out of surplus goods and centralized mechanized mills may appear to be cheaper in cost but in this case neither the mill cloth producer nor consumer is made to pay real cost or environmental cost of the production.  Cotton growing farmers do not even get production cost, leave alone the fair price. Now, Bt cotton has added more complexity in this.  Artisans (weavers, spinner women) from the village get unemployed because of mills. Moreover, so many carbon miles are added in cotton to cloth to consumer journey.
Considering these complexities, if cotton is converted into cloth at local level village economy will increase, artisans would get work, villages would prosper as well as ‘cloth self sufficiency’ (vastra swavalamban) would be achieved. With this thought, Gopuri has a unit of minimal mechanized sliver plant, spinning section, weaving centre to convert cotton to cloth locally.
Sliver plant
            Cotton is brought to sliver plant from GSM’s own farms or from nearby farms giving preference to organic, indigenous cotton. We are trying to get more and more indigenous cotton. The sliver plant machines in Gopuri are functioning since 1920. For the last few years sliver plant was non-functional because of a lack of capital to purchase raw material. Now, with some efforts and investment, the sliver plant is being restarted. At present, efforts are being made on a war footing, to restart all these machines, even by trying to obtain spare parts for these machines from dysfunctional old mills. This sliver plant can make slivers out of short staple indigenous cotton. Therefore, it is essential to run this sliver plant to sustain indigenous cotton varieties.  
GSM's pre-spinning unit is quite different. It uses unpressed lint instead of pressed bales to start with. This itself reduces quite a lot of energy consumption. Another thing is that it consumes locally produced cotton thereby reducing the ecological cost of cotton/lint transport.
 If machines of this sliver plant can be made even smaller, such that a group of 10-12 farmers can together make slivers within the village, that would bring up more decentralisation and less dependency on larger mills. With this goal, smaller sliver plant machines had been designed years ago. Now, further research and development is being undertaken to reduce the size further and to aid decentralization.
Spinning Department
            After making cotton into sliver, making it into thin but tough yarn requires skill and hard work. Spinner women in spinning department work hard to make such thin but tough yarn. Women from Naalwadi and nearby villages spin on 8 spindle ‘Ambar charkha’ at Gopuri spinning department every day. Here, yarn from count 25 to count 100 is made. To make such yarn charkha needs to be rotated with a steady & fast speed at the same time making sure that yarn is not breaking, if yarn breaks it needs to be linked without losing speed. Coordinating all this is a skillful job.
Along with this, 58 charkhas are being used at homes in nearby villages. Spinning department gets yarn of count 25, 30, 40 and 50 from those charkhas. Besides, few people from all over the country send yarn, hand spun on peti-charkha and get woven cloth in return.
Speciality of hand spun yarn is that, good quality tough yarn can be obtained from short staple indigenous cotton. Moreover, electricity is not required in this process, which makes the yarn more eco-friendly.
Weaving department, Naalwadi   
            The Weaving section of GSM is at Naalwadi village near Gopuri. GSM originally was started here in 1934 and later shifted to Gopuri as the work expanded. Earlier, skilled weavers from Savli village near Satara were invited here. Most of them left because weather did not suit them, but they trained local weavers. Now these local weavers stay at Naalwadi weaver’s colony and work on wooden handlooms. Entire family joins in the process of starching yarn, drying it, making bobbins, setting warp threads, etc. Here, handspun pure khadi yarns are used for both warp & weft and 100% pure Khadi cloth is woven. The weavers are skilled to weave thick cloth of count 20 to delicate cloth of count 100. Weavers are also covered under artisans’ welfare schemes. 
Training is conducted for new aspirant weavers. GSM is also associated with 20 weavers at Kamathi.  
Naalwadi had cloth bleaching and dying unit. Now for past several years it is not functional. There are efforts going on to restart the unit and use eco-friendly dyes. 
Khadi & Gramodyog selling centers
            GSM has three selling centers in order to reach the hand crafted and eco-friendly cloth to more and more people. Gopuri has ‘vastragar’ where the main stock is stored. Khadi and gramodyog products are also sold here.  Khadi cloth sold here is mostly made at GSM. Best quality and textured cloths of variety of colors and shades can be bought at a reasonable price over here. Ready-made shirts, dresses, cut pieces, hand stitched bags are also sold. Khadi cloth is also bought from various sister organisations from all over India, in order to make more variety available to customers. It is stringently checked whether those centers make 100% pure Khadi.   
            There are two selling centers in Wardha city. ‘Swarajya Bhandar’ is right in the heart of the market and ‘Khadi Bhandar’ is near the bus stand. GSM has its own ‘Khadi Bhandar’ in Sevagram Ashram campus and at its premises in Gopuri.
            Cloth is not only a basic need but is also a statement of our lifestyle and principles we believe in. Purchasing a piece of pure Khadi cloth is promoting fair returns to weavers, spinners, farmers and also to the soil!

Agriculture and Dairy department

            GSM does farming on around 40 acres of land following ecological and sustainable farming principles. Most of the seeds used here are indigenous seeds; completely avoiding Genetically Modified (GM) and growing various types of crops for conserving food diversity. Crops are planned to fulfill food requirements and also to produce raw material for cottage industry. Mainly, cotton, sorghum, wheat, groundnut, tuar, ambadi, mustard, vegetables, varieties of fodder grasses are grown. Cowdung and sanjeevak- a mixture of cow urine, jaggery and gram flour is used as a fertilizer. We save seeds for next cropping season and also for selling to other farmers at a reasonable price.
Farming preparations started here in GSM, in summer, with contour marking in most of the farm plots to achieve water conservation. Followed by minimum tilling to conserve the organic carbon in the soil and then dhoolperani (sowing in the dust) was done. Soil on these farms is rich black and friable because of the use of organic matter over several years.
 Seeds being straight line, good quality produce for several generations can be assured. Seed Sovereignty is need of the hour. New-comer individuals are doing experiments with ‘seed conservation’ at GSM. Various special character seeds are collected from several places and are conserved here. They are trying to multiply those seeds thereby bringing in food diversity. Presently, various breeds of cotton are collected from all over India. Some special seeds are perennial cotton, brown cotton, etc.
A dairy farm of indigenous cows compliments the organic farming. Gopuri has a cattle stock of forty odd indigenous cows, bulls and calves. Cows are tied only while milking otherwise they are roaming around the open cattle shed or grazing yard freely. Gopuri farm produces fodder sufficient for the whole year. Oil cake from the Gopuri’s oil press is also fed to the cows. However, some cow feed needs to be bought from the market. Efforts are being made to become self sufficient in terms of cow feed by reducing purchase of this feed from the market, alternatively by growing right types of protein rich grasses in Gopuri farms itself.  An important decision about cow feed was taken with the consent of Saaldaar and farm manager last month. Till now, cows were given cotton seed oil-cake, bought from the market. But market cotton seeds are majorly GM seeds. There is a risk that the GM component of the seeds may affect the cattle and the quality of the milk. Therefore we are exploring alternatives to avoid buying of cotton seed or cotton oil-cake from the market, bearing a risk of reduction in the quantity of milk for some time. It was decided that purity of milk was more important than quantity of milk. Cows are taken care like a family member. As a result, customer queue up to buy the yellowish, thick, creamy milk!

Oil press center (Tel Ghani)

            Oil is a main ingredient of Indian diet. Though oilseeds are produced in villages, there is dependence on oil sold in the market. If oil is made at a local level, it will reach every household in an eco-friendly way and in pure form. Farmers would get back pure oil cake, of their own seeds for their cattle as added bonus. With this purpose, GSM runs ‘cold press oil center’ (tel ghani). Oil seeds are brought from GSM farm as well as from neighbourhood farmers. 100% pure oil is extracted using wooden oil press mechanism. These days dieticians realize and recommend the importance of oil extracted on wooden oil press. Here the oil is extracted in small quantity at local place using locally available seeds without any kind of mixing & heating, moreover it is slow speed process that allows the oil to drip for hours and all the hard particles get collected separately, what remains is pure oil. Thus making it healthy with no properties lost.
Presently, we have groundnut, coconut, linseed, mustard, sesame and pure organic groundnut oil. GSM needs to buy oil seeds when they are cheapest in the market so as to provide oil at lowest possible price to the customers. GSM is trying to raise the capital for the collective purchase. Customers are requested to make advanced payment for their annual oil needs. This amount will be used for oil seed purchase. Customers will be given receipt and oil passbook. By this customers will be assured of pure oil for the whole year.

Paunar Center 

            One of the centers of GSM is at Paunar Ashram on the bank of the Dham river. It is adjacent to the campus of Brahmavidya Mandir where Vinoba Bhave spent his last days. This hermitage was started for individuals who wish to follow renunciation and work for the betterment of society. Several practitioners from all over the world stayed here. Some of them did experiments of ‘rishisheti’ - farming only with human muscle power- without bull or machines. Two old practitioners still stay here.
            GSM runs its ‘publication center’ and ‘Parandham Publication Center’ in Paunar Ashram with the motive of spreading Vinoba’s thoughts though printed media. Several books written by Vinoba are printed here. Year 2020 is Vinoba’s 125th birth year. With this opportunity there is a proposal of reprinting Vinoba’s literature in a new form, translating Vinoba’s coherent literature into English, which can guide the world even today. 
            Big portion of the ashram is lying idle in the absence of practitioners for several years. No one could pay attention to the farm. A newly associated family has joined along with one saaldaar family from this year in order to keep the place alive, to keep the farming- dairy experiments running, and give company to those two old practitioners. Now, house repair is going on for these new members to stay. While this repair work is undergoing, many old precious books, and personal items of old practitioners are found. 
Last month, ‘Palavi’ organization working with HIV affected children sent around 15 adolescent boys and girls for a month long experience in the ashram. They experienced a training of learning values through menial labor. Their day started with Morning Prayer, followed by cleaning the campus, cooking, working in the farm for the whole day and the day ended with the stories of Vinoba as narrated by old practitioners from the Ashram.
After reading this, we hope that this inspires you to visit Gopuri, share your skills & knowledge and/or if possible give monetary contribution so that it helps the artisans and individuals to continue their good work. One of the work is to bring awareness through ‘Cloth literacy’, ‘Food literacy’ and ‘Farming literacy’ among people. We hope that our genuine effort will be well received.

Check short video on Gram Sewa Mandal in hindi 

Contact:  Gram Sewa Mandal, Gopuri, Wardha – 442001

Phone: (07152) 244722, Email: gramsewamandal@gmail.com

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Agro-ecology and Permaculture Convergence - Dec 9 (Friday) to Dec 14 (full moon), 2016 at Vanvadi, Maharashtra

Experienced practitioners attending the Convergence, include: Narsanna, Clea Chandmal, Preeti Patil, Vasant Futane, Naresh Save, Debal Deb, Ananya Mehta, Rosie Harding, Peter Fernandes; also perhaps, Raju Titus.

Dear All,
We warmly invite you to a collaborative ‘Agro-ecology and Permaculture Convergence’ from Dec 9 to 14, 2016 at the Vanvadi forest in the Sahyadri foothills, about 100 km from Mumbai, going towards Pune. 

Objective: The Convergence is for mutual sharing, learning, and documentation of relevant knowledge, experiences and ideas among participants; and for deepening inter-support relationships for such purpose. While the focus will primarily be on western peninsular India, participation is open to all who are actively interested and involved in ecological regeneration/conservation and growing food. Vanvadi is happy to host this collaborative gathering; and to provide basic simple arrangements and a congenial ambience. It however needs equal support from other participants to achieve our shared objectives.

Schedule of Sessions
The weekend of Dec 10-11 will focus on home food gardening. The other days will cover wider issues related to agro-ecology and permaculture, including, soil, water, biodiversity …

Friday, Dec 9, 2016
11 am to 12.45 pm: Introduction to Vanvadi, and to the Convergence aims & plan; followed by brief self-introductions by participants, about 2-3 minutes per person, including what each would like to learn/benefit from the Convergence.
2.30 pm to 4 pm: Session by Narsanna on ‘Applied Permaculture’ 
4.15 pm to 5.45 pm: Interactive Discussion with Narsanna and 2 or 3 others (add names) on permaculture & agro-ecology

Saturday, Dec 10:
9.30 am to 11 am: Joint open discussion with Ananya, Rosie, Narsanna, and Bharat on ‘Collaborative Documentation and Sharing of Knowledge and Practices in Agro-ecology and Permaculture.’
11.10 to 11.30 am: Narsanna on ‘International Permaculture Convergence’ at Hyderabad in Nov. 2017; and Bharat on the ‘Organic World Congress’, jointly organized by IFOAM and OFAI, at Noida, Delhi, a week or so earlier. 
11.30 to 1 pm: Parallel Workshop Sessions: (i) ‘Urban/Terrace Home Food Gardening Basics’ with Preeti and Ananya; (ii) ‘Rural/Peri-urban Homestead Nutrition Gardening’ with Rosie-Peter
2.30 to 4 pm: Continued Parallel Sessions: (i) ‘Urban/Terrace Home Food Gardening’ with Preeti and Ananya; (ii) ‘Rural/Peri-urban Homestead Nutrition Gardening’ with Rosie-Peter.
4.15 to 5.45 pm: Joint Interactive Discussion on Home Food Gardening, with Preeti, Ananya, and Rosie-Peter
Sunday, December 11:
7 - 8.30 am: ‘Vanvadi Forest Foods and Useful Species’ – a walk with Mahadu Bua and Ambibai
9.30 am to 11 am: Parallel Workshop Sessions: (i) ‘Urban/Terrace Home Food Gardening’ with Preeti and Ananya;  (ii) ‘Rural/Peri-urban Homestead Nutrition Gardening and Integrated Agro-forestry’ with Clea and Rosie-Peter. 
11.15 to 12.45 pm: Continued Parallel Sessions: (i) ‘Urban/Terrace Home Food Gardening’ with Preeti and Ananya;  (ii) ‘Rural/Peri-urban Homestead Nutrition Gardening and Integrated Agro-forestry ’ with Clea, and Rosie-Peter
2.30 to 4 pm:  Presentation/talk by Clea on ‘Permaculture Principles in designing a Home Food Garden/Backdoor Food Forest’ (covering both urban/terrace and rural/peri-urban situations)
4.15 to 5.45 pm: Joint Interactive session and Open Discussion on Home Food Gardening, with Clea, Preeti, Ananya, and Rosie-Peter 

Monday, December 12:
9.30 am to 11 am: Talk/Presentation by Clea on: ‘Agro-ecology and Soil Regeneration’
11.15 to 12.45 pm: Talk/Presentation by Clea on: ‘Agro-ecology and Tree-based Farming’
2.30 to 4 pm:  Talk by Naresh Save (translated by Bharat) on ‘Bhaskar Save’s way of Natural Farming’; alternatively, session with Raju Titus on ‘Seedballs in Fukuoka’s way of No-Till Natural Farming’ 
4.15 to 5.45 pm: Open Discussion with Leslie, Vasantbhai and Bharat on ‘Integral Lifestyle Permaculture and Social Permaculture’

Tuesday, December 13:
9.30 - 11 am: Workshop by Vasantbhai on 'Soil and Water Conservation, including Contour-line Management’ 
11.15 - 12.45 pm: Session with Debal on ‘Selection and Conservation of Crop Varieties in a Farmer-oriented Participatory Breeding Programme’
2.30 -4 pm:  Talk/Presentation by Nareshbhai Save on: ‘Bhaskar Save’s approach to Orchard Development, integrating Short Lifespan, Medium Lifespan and Long Lifespan Species’; 
4.15 to 5.45 pm: Open Discussion with Debal, and Clea on 'The Meanings of Sustainability in an Agro-ecological Context'  

Wednesday, December 14
9.30 am to 11 am: Talk / presentation by Debal on ‘Agro-ecology and Conservation’ 
11.15 to 12.45 pm: Session with Vasantbhai on ‘Farmer level Networking, and Seed Festivals for Crop Diversity Conservation and Sharing, including Relevant Knowledge’  
2.30 - 4 pm:  Collective Evaluation and Discussion session on the Convergence; and Future Collaboration Plans 

Contribution: A voluntary contribution of Rs 1500 per day (inclusive of food and stay) is requested from each participant. Some concessional (50%) ‘scholarships’ are available for deserving participants who need them, and are willing to volunteer 2 hours each day for support functions like: helping with food preparation, serving, cleaning, filling water, etc.

Documentation of sessions: This is proposed for subsequent wider sharing among participants and others interested. However, we also need volunteers to make this possible. This will entail taking notes, photographs and audio/video recordings for subsequent transcription and editing. About 2-3 dedicated volunteers would be required, who may avail a concessional (50%) scholarship, if needed.

To Register, please fill this online registration form:
https://goo.gl/forms/KI8pDDigy SsmYa3D3  (Bank Account details & directions to Vanvadi are provided on the registration form)

Vanvadi: is a 21 year old, 65 acre, collectively owned and regenerated bio-diverse forest, with about 2 acres under cultivated food crops (half rain-fed, half irrigated), and a few seasonal streams and water bodies. (The rock pool is very deep; only for swimmers.) We aspire to evolve as an ecological forest village community. Collective self-organisation with mutual sensitivity, help, and shared learning have been the guiding principles of our past activities and workshops, Our new community house can provide shared (dorm-style) accommodation for about 30 people; an older house can accommodate about 8. Beyond the first 35 registrations, the rest would need to sleep outdoors, or bring their own tent; please register soon! Simple vegetarian food is offered. There is no electricity, no piped water, and net connectivity is poor. But the natural ambience is delightful… lush forest, the calls of birds and insects, and a zillion glowing stars at night … (See Vanvadi Facebook page for conversations and photographs posted in recent years.)

What to bring: Warm clothes and sleeping bag, or a sheet and warm blanket are essential. (The days are pleasant, but the winter nights are cold!) Please also carry a torch, whatever you need to take notes, or to swim or bathe in, and any music instrument you play. (Post dinner, we generally have an hour or more of singing, music around a warm fire.) You could also carry any literature, books, posters, … you would like others to see; and perhaps any seeds/planting material that you would like to share/exchange. (Any plastic packaging, etc. you bring should please be carried back.)

Further information: may be sought by emailing bharatmansata@yahoo.com, with a copy to ananyamehta@yahoo.com, and vanutsav@gmail.com.

We look forward to see you ... !

Friday, November 4, 2016

2016 Nov 13 - Balcony & Grill Organic Kitchen Gardening Workshop by Green Souls

Balcony & Grill 
Organic Kitchen Gardening Workshop

13th November 2106. 9:00am to 1pm
At GreenSouls Community Farm - Kharghar

Register Now
Tired of sad looking vegetables at your supermarket?
Want to reconnect with nature in the comfort of your own home?
Want to see things grow but just have a window grill or a tiny balcony? 
Never fear! Green Souls is here!
This is the workshop for YOU, where you will practically learn all the skills you need to put home grown fresh harvest on your table!
What it will involve
  • Basics of Soil Ecology
  • Making a ‘Living Soil’ planter
  • Re-using different containers as planters
  • Grill gardening
  • Sapling Making
  • What to grow when and where
  • Sowing seeds
  • Transplanting
  • Mulching
  • Home-made pest remedies
  • Sowing Calendar
  • Health Maintenance of your plants
  • Drip Irrigation – different home friendly methods

~~SPECIAL GIFT TO OUR WORKSHOP ATTENDEES!~~
Take back a Special Starter Kit to get you started gardening this 2016!

Please do get a hat & a water bottle. And wear comfortable floaters/sandals (not sport shoes).

Minimum Contribution
Rs. 1800 per person* if registered & paid before 9th November 2016.
*Registration and payment post 9th will be charged at Rs. 2000 per person.
This and any additional contribution will go towards supporting Green Souls’ volunteer run farm. The organic pesticide- free produce goes to children from
St Jude who are undergoing treatment for cancer


Registration Form Link:
http://greensouls.in/kharghar-workshop-1311
Make sure you have made the payment before filling the form

Payment Mode:
Pay by Bank Transfer:
Account Holder: Julius Rego
State Bank of India, (03375) - Rabale
Account No 31592958671
Branch Code 400002098
IFS Code SBIN0003375; 

For any assistance call:
Call: +91 75060 45783 / 98701 13541
Email: community@greensouls.in

Venue:
Green Souls Community farm
St. Jude India ChildCare Centre
TATA Memorial Hospital (ACTREC),
Nr. Golf Course, Sector 22, Kharghar,
Navi Mumbai 410210

Register Now
Glimpses of our past workshops
Click here to join the Event on Facebook
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

No commercial release of GM Mustard crop sans nod, Centre to SC

The apex court had on October 7 restrained the commercial release of the crop for ten days

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi  | October 25, 2016 Last Updated at 00:36 IST

The Centre, on Monday, told the Supreme Court that it would not commercially release Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard crop seeds without its permission.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi appearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur said if there would be any decision to go ahead with the field trials of the GM crop and for its commercial release, then it would first seek the apex court's permission.
"If we are to proceed with field trials of the GM crops or have to release it commercially, we will like to come back to the court for the permission," Rohatgi told the bench, also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao.

The apex court has now posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.

It had earlier extended the stay on the commercial release of GM Mustard crop till further orders.

The apex court had on October 7 restrained the commercial release of the crop for ten days, saying the stay would continue till the matter is heard next.

The court, at the last hearing, had asked the Centre to seek public opinion on such seeds before releasing it for cultivation purpose, even as government approval is awaited.

Mustard is one of India's most important winter crops which is sown between mid-October and late November.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Aruna Rodrigues, alleged that the government was sowing the seeds in various fields and said the bio-safety dossier has to be put on website, which has not been done yet.

Alleging that field trials were being carried out without doing the relevant tests, he sought had a 10-year moratorium on them. Bhushan said a Technical Expert Committee (TEC) report has also said that the entire regulatory system was in shambles and 10-year moratorium should be given.

Rodrigues had filed the plea seeking a stay on the commercial release of Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard crop and prohibition of its open field trials.

He had also urged the court to prohibit open field trials and commercial release of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) crops including HT Mustard DMH 11 and its parent lines/variants as recommended by the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) report.

It said the contamination caused by mustard HT DMH 11 and its HT parents would be "irremediable and irreversible". "The contamination of our seed stock and germ plasm as will happen with mustard HT DMH 11 and its HT parents will be irremediable and irreversible making our food toxic at the molecular level without recourse," it said.





SOURCE: http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/no-commercial-release-of-gm-mustard-crop-sans-nod-centre-to-sc-116102400811_1.html